Three Ways U.S. Colleges Are Going to Change

By Karen Lindsey-Lloyd, Vice President, Dallas

Last August, U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration unveiled a plan that created a lot of buzz in the media and among higher education officials. Here are the big changes that will affect colleges and universities this year:

Creating college scorecards

The most talked about part of the Obama proposal is the creation of new rankings for schools based on data in a college scorecard. Among U.S. colleges and universities, the most talked about rankings has always been from U.S. News and World Report. The new angle proposed by Obama on “College Scorecards” and rankings is to include:

• Percentage of students receiving Pell grants;
• Average tuition, scholarships and loan debt; and
• Graduation and transfer rates, graduate earnings and advanced degrees of graduates.

This isn’t groundbreaking. Colleges and universities constantly track this data, but they rarely find ways to act on it. While there are alternative rankings that take criteria like those into account, the data are not commonly used.

Making the data matter to impact affordability

After a quick review of the White House fact sheet, it sounds like they are gearing up to tie federal student aid — including Pell Grants and federal student loans — to institutional quality, as measured by the new rankings system. Students attending high-performing colleges could receive larger Pell Grants and more affordable student loans. Currently, as long as a school is accredited — which is typically easy — its students can get federal aid.

Adopting new ways to use technology

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and hybrid classrooms have already demonstrated that technology can reduce costs, increase access and affordability. The President’s plan challenges higher education leaders to adopt practices that:

• Award credits based on learning, not seat time. This is the idea of competency-based online universities serving large numbers of students with relatively low costs and short duration to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
• Use technology to redesign courses. The notion that redesigned courses that integrate online platforms (like MOOCs) or blend in-person and online experiences can accelerate the pace of student learning.
• Use technology for student success. Online learning communities and e-advising tools enable students from across campuses and across the world to learn collaboratively.

The Obama Administration’s plan will bring about great change to colleges and universities and help reframe the value of higher education in the United States. The changes now create an even greater need for university presidents to both influence and create bold platforms that give them a voice in the debate on the direction of their institutional education.

This article originally appeared on Edelman.com.